The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

FIRST VIEW OF CANl'OX. 405
The voyage from Ilong-koiig to Canton is pai'tly among islands and
tliroiigli a bay, and partly on the Peai-l Kiver. The navigation is easy in
the first part of the course, hut after the steamer has reached the narrower
portion of the I'iver the great number of juuks and other craft con^pels
a sharp lookout on the part of the pilots, to avoid accidents. Tliey passed
the famous Whampoa Anchorage, where the ocean-bound ships used to
receive their cargoes before Ilongdvong assumed its present importance.
A few miles farther on, the great city of Canton was brought into sight as
the steamer swung around a bend in the river. In front was the island
of Tlo-nan, with its temple bowered in trees, and on the surface of the
river there were thousands of boats of many kinds and sizes. The boys
remembered what they had heard of the boat population of Canton, and
now they realized that they had reached a city where sixty thousand
people make their homes on the water.
Before the steamer stopped she was surrounded by dozens of the
smaller boats, and, as soon as they could do so, many of the boatwomen
came on board. The captain recommended one of them who was known
as " American Susan," and the trio were confided to her care for transfer
to the hotel on Ilo-nan Island. Susan and her attendant women shoulder-
ed the valises which the travellers had brought from Hong-kong, and led
tlie way to her boat. The gallantry of the boys received a shock when
they saw their baggage carried by women, while their own hands were
empty; but the Doctor told them it was the custom of the country, and by
carrying their own valises they would deprive the women of an oppor-
tunity of earning a few pennies. To this view of the matter they yield-
ed ;
and before they had recovered their composure the boat was gliding
across the river, propelled by the powerful arms of her feminine crew.
Susan proposed to be in their employ during their stay at Canton, and a
bargain was speedily concluded ;
for fifty cents at day, the boat was to be
at their disposal from morning till night to carry them over the river, or
to any point they wished to visit along its banks. Frank thought tliey
would be obliged to look a long time to find a boat with two men at the
oars for a similar price in New York, and Fred thought they would have
to look still longer to find one rowed by two women.
They had three or four hours to spare before sunset, and at once set
about the business of sight-seeing. Their first visit was to the temple on
the island, and they were followed from the landing by a crowd of idle
people, who sometimes pressed too closely for comfort. There was an
avenue of trees leading up to the temple, and before reaching the build-
ino' they passed under a gateway not unlike those they had seen at the